but i think everybody's going to put something in the pot in order to balance the deficit. we did a lousy job in january on the tax side and i hope that -- i think it's better to go over the cliff than do a lousy job -- >> how many people do you know on your side of the field who actually agree with you? >> very few. look they're politicians. they want to spend as much money as they possibly can and they don't want to pay for it. >> who agrees with you? >> oh, i don't know. i bet -- oh, god, joe agrees with me. >> you forgot. the other thing, howard, and i'm just alluding to it, there will be no return to the bush era tax rates on anyone under $400,000? >> right. >> okay. so take that amount of money, whatever that is per year. how much do you need -- how many loopholes do you need to close? what is the marginal rate have to be on people above 400 to replace that potential revenue? it's 100%, isn't it? >> but i don't -- i think the tax rates -- you and i have disagreed on raising taxes. but i don't think they can go any higher or should go higher. >> on the high end. >> i d

we blew a hole in the deficit, added $5 trillion to the deficit. and we took a surplus into deep debt. we got to stop that you're absolutely right. >> doubling down. >> yes. >> i saw glimmers of hope with the terrapins. i don't know. >> there are glimmers of hope and they did pretty well from time to time. saturday, as you saw, joe, was not a good game for us. we didn't play our a game. but when we play our "a" game we got a lot of freshmen, sophomore -- dominant center right now. but he's going to be. and we're going to have a very, very good team as time goes by. but they had a bad game on saturday but they had a good game away at virginia tech before that. so, i'm very hopeful that they're going to do well coming forward, and next year. >> any progress on -- do i need to raise some money for the steny hoyer statute? the boomer esiason statue at -- on the campus. and i said where is this steny hoyer statue? and people looked at me like, i don't know. i'm working on that. you want me to -- >> you're chairman, joe. i thought i appointed you chairma

they're among the leaders the obama administration is turning to for advice on everything from the deficit to taxes to the broader economy. >>> then, after we talk to them, they're going to paint a picture for us, we're going to turn to two powerful investors for insight into what the conversation in washington means for the broader markets. cowen and company ceo jeff solomon will join us, and the bond king, bill gross. first, steve will bring us up to speed on the morning's top stories. steve? >> thank you, michelle. disney posting better than expected earnings and revenues after the bell. the company says it expects the next few quarters to be better on a stronger lineup of films and growing attendance at its theme parks. ceo bob iegory was on cnbc's "closing bell." >> you had a lot of ins and outs. basically, the trendser good. we had strong results at our domestic parks. the bookings have been pretty solid. advertising was okay. and generally speaking, our business performed well. and our interactive media group was profitable for the quarter. that's the first time the group has been p

let's put us on a path to managing down the debt and deficit. that's what we're for. >> representative cantor -- i'm sorry. i'm sorry to interrupt. i just want to understand, though, is there a new environment there washington now? because we've been talking about the perception that you and the democrats and the president are working to the better. would you characterize it that way or not? >> well, i certainly hope so. you know, again, and the difficulty in working with the president thus far has been that he's not demonstrated a commitment to try to do something about the out-of-control spending. and we know it's all connected to the entitlement growth in this country, and it seems as if he's not willing to tackle that. we remain committed to working with him, and i hope that he can lead. you know, listen, i know that our international allies are looking for america to get its fiscal house in order so that they can see a better day in their country. we've got folks here at home that we want to help. and that's why we're taking the positions t

we're expecting, you know, 8 billion wider deficit, and 46. and last month, had the most subtle revisions, we'll just call it a push. so you know, i'm going to have to ponder this. we know that there's a lot of foreign exchange going on in the world. most of it right now isn't free market driven, it's central bank printing driven. thinking this through, of course, is going to have big possibilities for strategic trades down the road. especially if the offshoot of what's going on potentially between europe, japan, maybe to a lesser extent china, is going to boost the value of the dollar. is that something that's going to help or hurt? how important is this number? all that, of course, will be defined by the market at some point. yields are a bit lower today. as a matter of fact on thecoms, one week ago today, friday, pretty much the high close going back to april for most maturities. for the ten year 202 closing yield. we're 18 basis points higher on the year. back to you. >> hey, rick, this is a big deal for that fourth quarter gdp growth. >>

that's really what the problem is in terms of the deficit. we have this debt that's still exploding, part of the policy uncertainty. the more we can -- >> i think my point also is, wouldn't we be seeing more signs that whatever the fed has done, may have been working better had washington not shot us all in the foot? >> i think it's -- i think it's the whole policy package to the. the fed has been very interventionist if you like. they're trying to do a good job, i think it's not helping. but also we've had the stimulus packages, a whole wide range of things like this which has been a drag. >> we have to leave it there. thank you so much for joining us this morning. it's been a pleasure. >> a lot of fun. >> thank you. >> come back. >> next time you'll have kernen -- he won't give you a hard time. >> not as bad as you. >> coming up, two very big interviews that you can only see right here on "squawk." former treasury secretary robert rubin. he's in the green room now. he's going to join us on the "squawk" set. we'll talk about the economy, big

president obama once again says he's going to seek to get new revenue to help bring down the deficit and specifically, he's now calling out carried interest tax breaks again. we'll see where that goes. plus, the story that everyone is talking about this morning, the ravens holding on to beat the 49ers in the super bowl after the lights went out for 45 minutes at the superdome. we're going to try to keep the lights on. "squawk box" begins right now. ♪ if you like it then you should have put a ring on it ♪ ♪ if you like it then you should have put a ring on it ♪ >> good morning, everybody. i'm becky quick along with andrew ross sorkin. joe kernen is on vacation today so we're joined by steve liesman. we're happy to have him here. our top story this morning, the market. we have assembled a trio of wall street's most respected voices to join us for the next hour. we have a lot to talk about this morning. plus, there is that issue of the lights going out at the super dole last night. officials say an abnormality in the power system triggered an automatic shutdown forcing backup sy